macros disappearing - Word 2019 for Mac

If both files are moved and stay in the same folder as each other, will the relative path with simply the name of the target document work?

As long as you do not move or rename your files or their enclosing folders, or your startup volume, your macros should work just fine. It's only when you move, rename files or folders of either the source or target documents will you run into the issue.

Understanding files, folders, and directories

Dear Richard_1931,

Thanks for your information.

As it seems that there are several issues related to the macro in Word 2019 for Mac in your environment, welcome to use the feedback tool in the upper-right corner of your app to report the issue to our related team directly so that they can address your requirement with more resources in your environment for further investigation.

Best Regards,

Cliff

I take it that a file path is the series of commands I use in a macro created for the purpose of opening a file.  As I understand your message, you're saying I can't start the path by clicking Command O, then Documents, then the Document folder that contains the file I want to open, then the file, that instead I have to start at Users.  I still don't understand why this should be necessary since I can start at Command O with the 2010 version of Word that I have on my MacBook and create macros that don't stop working as do those in the 2019 version of Word I have on my iMac.  But I tried starting the path in Finder at Users, actually at McIntosh, that I had to click on first to access Users, then clicked on my User name, then on Desktop, but at that point I got a message that said "The folder “Desktop” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents."

I then tried McIntosh/Users/my User name/Documents and got the same you don't have permission message.

So where do I go from here?

I keep wondering why I'm having the problem of macros ceasing to function after a few minutes to a few days with Word 2019 when I'm not having that problem on my MacBook with Word 2010.  It seems to me that there's some sort of programming error in the 2019 version that Microsoft needs to fix, indeed should have fixed long ago after I made them aware in several calls and emails in and after October of last year of the problems I was having with the 2019 version.  But if there's a workaround that will make macros work for me, I'd be happy to use it until the underlying problem is fixed.

By the way, I haven't tried to use the 2010 version on my iMac because I get the message on my MacBook that it's no longer supported and needs to be replaced by a newer version.  However, as I said, it still works without problem on my MacBook.

I also have never, as far as I'm aware, moved, deleted or renamed the Calendar and Frequently Called Numbers files, which I've been using in my efforts to create macros that don't self-destruct on my iMac in Word 2019.   I created those files in their current path about 25 years ago moved then to my MacBook when I bought it, and transferred them to my iMac when I set it up, and, as I keep saying, the macros still work fine on my MacBook, with Word 2010, but on my iMac, with Word 2019, the macros work for only a few minutes to a few days, and then I get the error message when I try to use the macro.

To use an absolute file path, change the code slightly.

This is relative path the recorder recorded:

...Documents.Open FileName:="Document.docx"...

A complete path would look something like this (using the path to your Word document);

...Documents.Open FileName:="**/Users/username/Desktop/Test/**Document.docx"...

Notice the addition of all the enclosing folders with each directory level denoted by a slash to the file path in the second example.

When you use the complete file path, the location of the document having the macro is not important. However, if you move, delete, or rename the document file or any enclosing folders, the macro will fail.